Government of Canada Celebrates Investment in College and Business Partnerships at Centennial College

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 10, 2015) - Industry Canada

The Honourable Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology), accompanied by Roxanne James, Member of Parliament for Scarborough Centre, and Corneliu Chisu, Member of Parliament for Pickering-Scarborough East, was at Centennial College today to celebrate a new research partnership to build local innovation capacity in the medical technology industry.

The college is receiving a Technology Access Centres Grant of $1.75 million for the creation of the Wearable, Interactive, and Mobile Technologies Access Centre in Healthcare (WIMTACH).

The funding announced today was awarded through the College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program and the College Industry Innovation Fund (CIIF). These programs fund research projects and partnerships between Canadian colleges and private business. During the national funding announcement held in Hamilton on April 8, Minister of State Holder announced more than $40 million for 38 projects across Canada, which includes funding for colleges to purchase specialized research equipment.

Quick facts

• The CCI Program is managed by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

• Since its launch in 2009, the CCI Program has provided $293.3 million in support to 1,124 projects at 102 colleges across Canada.

• Recently, Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered on the government's commitment to provide an updated science and technology strategy. The strategy, Seizing Canada's Moment, is a vision and a road map for strengthening Canada's position as a global leader in scientific research and harnessing greater Canadian research and development to create jobs, increase prosperity and improve the quality of life of Canadians.

• The CCI Program and the CIIF correspond to all three pillars of the strategy-knowledge, people and innovation-by developing highly skilled people, building research knowledge and sharing this expertise with business to improve processes and technologies.

• Ontario, as home to 42 percent of Canada's medical technology industry, is positioned to foster the growth of digital technologies in health care. WIMTACH will provide the unique proposition of a mobile, wearable and interactive research facility and of field-based usability testing frameworks at Centennial.

Quotes

"Through our government's updated science, technology and innovation strategy, we are making the record investments necessary to push the boundaries of knowledge, create jobs and improve the quality of life of Canadians. Our government, through the College and Community Innovation Program, is creating the conditions that will allow innovation and entrepreneurship to thrive in this country. The collaboration between colleges and local industrial partners generates new products and ideas, creating long-term prosperity for the benefit of all Canadians."

- The Honourable Ed Holder, Minister of State (Science and Technology)

"Centennial College's Wearable, Interactive, and Mobile Technology Access Centre in Healthcare will foster partnerships between Centennial's students and the medical technology industry. These partnerships will foster innovative research to bring new products to market that will improve the lives of Canadians throughout Ontario and across the country."

- Corneliu Chisu, Member of Parliament for Pickering-Scarborough East

"NSERC is proud to support applied research and technology transfer work at Canada's community colleges. Building college research capacities to help businesses innovate, while training the next generation of researchers and entrepreneurs, will create economic growth. The College and Community Innovation Program supports world-class research and innovation in communities all across the country-from building specialized equipment to developing new research centres."

- Dr. B. Mario Pinto, President, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Related products

- Results of the Spring 2015 CCI Competition

Associated links

- Information about grants for colleges and the CCI Program

- Centennial College

Follow us on Twitter: @industrycanada

NSERC is the primary funding agency supporting Canada's science and engineering research community. The agency supports almost 30,000 post-secondary students and post-doctoral fellows in their advanced studies. NSERC promotes discovery by funding approximately 12,000 professors every year and fosters innovation by working with over 3,000 Canadian companies that are participating and investing in post-secondary research projects.